Sukup Products Win Innovations Award

The Mixed-Flow Grain Dryer combines the use of mixing/heating chambers with vacuum cooling technology to produce a dryer that removes moisture from grain very evenly and economically.

Photo by Sukup

Two new products from Sukup Manufacturing Co. have been honored by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) as among the 50 outstanding innovations of 2016.

The award-winning products are the Mixed-Flow Grain Dryer and the Zero-Entry Commercial Paddle Sweep. The Mixed-Flow Grain Dryer combines the use of mixing/heating chambers with vacuum cooling technology to produce a dryer that removes moisture from grain more evenly and economically than other dryers. The Zero-Entry Commercial Paddle Sweep is a grain unloading machine that sweeps grain from large bins without requiring the operator to enter the bin.

The awards will be presented Feb. 14 at the ASABE Agricultural Equipment Technology Conference in Louisville, Ky.

Mixed-Flow Grain Dryer

The Mixed-Flow Grain Dryer combines the use of mixing/heating chambers with vacuum cooling technology to produce a dryer that removes moisture from grain more evenly and economically than other dryers. The vacuum-cooling system recycles warmed air back into the dryer, which reduces the amount of fuel needed to reach the optimum drying temperature. Fuel savings may exceed 25% compared to traditional pressure-cooled cross-flow dryers. The mixing chambers allow more uniform drying of grain, and they are made of solid sheets instead of perforated material, which eliminates the need to sweep debris from hard-to-reach upper screens on traditional cross-flow dryers. The patent-pending design of the Sukup Mixed-Flow Grain Dryer allows for a single center unloading system, compared to two in competitors’ mixed-flow dryers. This new Sukup dryer can be ordered with gravity-flow or auger loading and with auger or drag conveyor unloading.

Zero-Entry Commercial Paddle Sweep

The Zero-Entry Commercial Paddle Sweep is a grain unloading machine that sweeps grain from large bins without requiring the operator to enter the bin. The sweep’s A-frame design provides horizontal rigidity that prevents the sweep from bending as it moves through grain and vertical rigidity that allows use in deeper grain. The A-frame design also helps prevent stalling in the event of a grain avalanche. Vertical loads on sweeps in large bins may exceed 5,000 lbs./ft.², requiring tremendous design strength to endure such heavy loads. There are three major benefits of this product: safety is vastly improved because the sweep is operated entirely from outside the bin, its patent-pending design allows it to be used in deeper grain than other sweeps, and its paddles provide a cleaner sweep than machines using augers, thus saving on labor costs. This is the machine shown here.